The Next Great Adventure
by william01pd2018
Summary: When Haemon kills himself does it end there, or is there more? Written for a school project criticism welcomed.
1. Part 1

Part 1

Haimon rushed to the stone tomb where Antigone had practically been buried alive. He motioned to the palace servants to hurry up opening the stone door. As soon as he could fit his body into the newly opened space he rushed in.

When his eyes adjusted to the light he let loose a cry of rage and anguish, for Antigone there she was, hanging, slowly swinging, like in a breeze. Haimon took her cold body down from her floating vigil, and brought his arms around his love. He cried for what had been lost because his father's stubbornness.

Soon he heard a thunder of hooves beating the ground and watched, tears still rolling down his face as his father rushed in.

His father blurted out "Son what have you done?"

Haimon though _What have I done? Is he so arrogant that he thought that this was my doing not the result of his actions?_ Coming to a conclusion Haimon spat in Creon's face and drew his sword and swung at the man. Haimon missed, and with the desperation of a widow, plunged half of his sword's length into his side. He keeled over, vision blurring and hearing full of the sound of rushing blood. He saw his father command the servants to get a healer, a doctor, anyone that could help save his son. As his eyes slowly failed him, he saw his father lean over him and kiss his brow and mumble something that his failing ears could not catch. Then Haimon, son of Creon and prince of Thebes died next to the love of his life Antigone.


	2. Part 2

Part 2

Haimon opened his eyes. He thought to himself, what an odd dream. He unnecessarily took a breath and choked on a small silver coin. He spit it into his hand and took a look at it in the low light. In that moment he realized that what he had thought had been a dream was beginning to look like a nightmare. For what he had spit into his hand had been a danake, the coin that is placed into the mouth of the dead when they are buried.

He looked around trying to ignore the odd coin he held in his palm. He gazed upon a room entirely made of rough-hewn black stone. Inscribed upon the floor was the Greek letter ϴ (theta). On the walls were burning torches that had been inverted. If Haimon's dead face could have paled it would have. He recognized the symbols on the floor and walls, they were the personal symbols of Thanatos, the god of the dead.

Haimon rushed out of the room and stopped gazing about the infinitely large cavern, colossal stalactites poking out through the mist that covered the roof like a false sky. Before him was a river that was both calm as a deep sleep and vicious as a raging bull. Waiting at the pier was a rickety old gondola with a cloaked figure at its head. He stood there gaping, finally realizing that, yes he was dead and there was nothing he could do about it.

Finally breaking the silence, he asked the cloaked figure, "Are you Charon?"

The figure held up his hand and pointed to the coin that Haimon held. Wordlessly he passed the shining silver over the cloaked figure and stepped onto the amazingly still floating craft. As the boat started moving Haimon took one long look back on the shore he had just left, as it passed out of sight he noticed a blurry three headed figure on a rock howling at the sky. He shuddered and was thankful that he was not there with that monstrosity.


	3. Part 3

Part 3

Haimon was lost in thought and only noticed that they had stopped when the boat shuddered to a stop. He politely replied "Thank you Charon" as he stepped off the boat. The ferryman just shoves off the boat and disappears silently into the mist rising off the river Styx. Haimon shrugged and trudged off on the well beaten path before him.

After what seems to be an eternity the prince reaches a clearing, where three judges tables were positioned.

"Mortal!" Aeacus said from the right-hand side, "You are here for judgment. Your entire life and death comes into consideration, whether you were evil and deserve to burn in Tartarus, or died a hero's death saving those in need."

Aeacus pulled out a scroll and read over it, Haimon glanced at the other judges. Minos, sitting in the middle, was quietly taking notes on his own scroll and Rhadamanthus, on the left, looked over cases of people that died in Asia.

Haimon glanced back Aeacus when he started speaking.

"Mortal, I have decided to send you to Asphodel Meadows. While you did not do anything horrible in your rather short life, you did not do anything heroic either. Taking into account that you tried to save your love's life, you tried to kill your father and killed yourself."

He glanced at Minos, "Anything to add brother?"

Minos shook his head and went back to taking notes.

"Very well," in a booming voice he declared "I, Aeacus send you, Haimon, son of Creon and prince of Thebes, to Asphodel Meadows for all eternity!" then he called "NEXT!"

Haimon wondered what the Asphodel Meadows were like. All the books he had read said that they were dead boring.

As he walked through the doors, he though he saw a familiar head of hair up ahead. Haimon touched the shoulder of the woman in front of him. She turned around and he hugged her with all his might. It was the love of his life and now death. He started crying into her shoulder saying over and over that he thought he had lost her. He grabbed her face and kissed her and held her hand and his final thought before wandering off with his love, was that the afterlife would not be so bad after all.


End file.
